veer

See also: Veer and véër

English

Pronunciation

• (General Australian, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /vɪə/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɪ(ə)ɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle Dutch vieren (“to slacken”).

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

2. (obsolete, nautical) To let out (a sail-line), to allow (a sheet) to run out.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     As when a skilfull Marriner doth reed / A storme approching, that doth perill threat, / He will not bide the daunger of such dread, / But strikes his sayles, and vereth his mainsheat, / And lends vnto it leaue the emptie ayre to beat.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French virer.

Noun

veer (plural veers)

2. A turn or swerve; an instance of veering.
   • 1917, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:

     […] there is always a sudden, though small rise in the barometer, and a sudden drop of temperature of several degrees, sometimes as much as ten or fifteen degrees; there is also a sudden veer in the wind direction.

Translations

turning

• Bulgarian: обръщане (bg) n (obrǎštane)
• Georgian: მობრუნება (mobruneba)
• Persian: ویراژ‎ (fa) (virâž)
• Russian: поворо́т (ru) m (povorót)
• Serbo-Croatian: obrtanje n

  Roman: skretanje (sh) n

change of direction - of the wind

• Bulgarian: промяна на посоката (promjana na posokata)
• Galician: rolar (gl)
• Maori: kōtore
• Serbo-Croatian: promjena smjera f, promena smera

Verb

veer (third-person singular simple present veers, present participle veering, simple past and past participle veered)

2. (intransitive) To change direction or course suddenly; to swerve.

   The car slid on the ice and veered out of control.

   • 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     And as he leads, the following navy veers.

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, Letters on a Regicide Peace:

     We are in a war of a peculiar nature. It is not with an ordinary community which is hostile or friendly as passion or as interest may veer about.

   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     At this time in 2008, even as the global economy veered toward collapse, optimism about Washington ran surprisingly high.

   • 2021 February 24, Greg Morse, “Great Heck: a tragic chain of events”, in RAIL, number 925, pages 38, 39:

     As he neared a bridge over the East Coast Main Line near Great Heck, he lost control. His Land Rover left the carriageway and veered onto the hard shoulder before biting into the grass verge.
     [page 39] It ran derailed for about 500 yards before encountering a set of points, which caused it to veer into the path of an Immingham-Ferrybridge coal train, powered by Freightliner 66521 (one of a class of locomotive well-known for being well-built enough to destroy anything that got in its way).

   • 2023 October 11, Jonathan Jones, “Frieze London art fair review – a graveyard of creativity for tasteless one percenters”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN:

     As for the legions of paintings, they veer between the bland and bizarre.

3. (intransitive, of the wind) To shift in a clockwise direction (if in the Northern Hemisphere, or in a counterclockwise direction if in the Southern Hemisphere).
   • 1966, F. K. Hare, The Restless Atmosphere, 4th edition, Hutchinson University Library

     It is clear that when a front passes the observer, there must be a sudden shift in wind: in the northern hemisphere it will always veer, that is, shift in a clockwise sense.

4. (intransitive, nautical, of the wind) To shift aft.
5. (intransitive, nautical) To change direction into the wind; to wear ship.
6. (transitive) To turn.

Antonyms

• (of the wind, to shift clockwise): back
• (of the wind, to shift aft): haul forward

Translations

to change direction or course suddenly

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 转向 (zh)

• Czech: stočit se pf, měnit směr impf, změnit směr pf, náhle zahnout
• Finnish: kaartaa (fi)
• French: virer (fr), tourner (fr)
• Georgian: მიმართულების შეცვლა (mimartulebis šecvla)
• German: ausscheren (de)
• Maori: tataha
• Slovak: zahnúť, zabočiť
• Spanish: virar (es)

of wind: to shift in a clockwise direction

• Finnish: laskea (fi)
• German: rechtdrehen
• Maori: tōrua (can refer to any direction), kōrure

to change direction into the wind

• Bulgarian: хващам вятъра (hvaštam vjatǎra)
• Finnish: kääntyä tuuleen
• French: virer (fr)

transitive: to turn

• Bulgarian: обръщам (bg) (obrǎštam)
• Czech: stočit pf
• Finnish: kääntää (fi)
• French: virer (fr)
• Georgian: მობრუნება (mobruneba)
• Maori: kōtore, tōrua (of wind or current)
• Occitan: virar (oc)
• Persian: ویراژ دادن‎ (virâž dâdan), تغییر جهت دادن‎ (tağyir jahat dâdan)
• Portuguese: virar (pt)
• Russian: меня́ть курс impf (menjátʹ kurs), повора́чивать (ru) impf (povoráčivatʹ), поверну́ть (ru) pf (povernútʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: скренути

  Roman: skrenuti (sh)

• Spanish: virar (es)

Anagrams

• Vere, ever

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch veer.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

veer (plural vere)

1. feather

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːˀər/, [ˈʋeːˀɐ]
• Rhymes: -eːˀər

Noun

veer

1. plural of ve

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːr/, [vɪːr]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: veer
• Rhymes: -eːr

Etymology 1

A contraction of veder, from Middle Dutch vedere, from Old Dutch fethara, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ ~ pth₂én- (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”). The sense "spring" is derived from the ability of feathers to resume their shape when bent.

Cognate with Low German Fedder, German Feder, West Frisian fear, English feather, Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder.

Noun

veer f (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. a feather, plume

   Synonym: pluim

2. a mechanical spring (e.g. metallic helix which resists stress)
3. a twisted leaf, notably of a fern

Alternative forms

• (feather): veder (dated)

Derived terms

• bladveer
• contourveer
• dekveer
• dinosaurusveer
• donsveer
• drijfveer
• drukveer
• een veer in de reet steken
• ganzenveer
• met andermans veren pronken
• okselveer
• oorveer
• schroefveer
• spiraalveer
• springveer
• staartveer
• trapveer
• trekveer
• veerconstante
• veerkracht
• veermechanisme
• veerstrop
• veerunster
• veerwild
• veren
• verendek
• verenkleed
• vogelveer
• wagenveer
• wangveer

 

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer
• → Caribbean Javanese: pir
• → Indonesian: per (“spring”)

Verb

veer

1. inflection of veren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch vere, from Old Dutch feri, from Proto-Germanic *farjaną.

Cognate with German Fähre.

Noun

veer n (plural veren, diminutive veertje n)

1. ferry

Synonyms

• overzet
• pont, veerpont m, veerboot

Derived terms

• fietsveer
• trekveer
• veerboot
• veerdienst
• veergeld
• veerloon
• veerman
• veerpont
• veerweg
• voetveer

 

Descendants

• Afrikaans: veer
• → Sranan Tongo: fer
  • → Caribbean Hindustani: fer
  • → Caribbean Javanese: fir, pir

Anagrams

• erve, ever, vere, vree

Dutch Low Saxon

Alternative forms

• vaaier (Gronings)

Etymology

From Low German, from Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier.

Numeral

veer

1. four (4)

Estonian

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *veeri.

Noun

veer (genitive veere, partitive veert)

1. edge

Declension

Declension of veer (ÕS type 13/suur, length gradation)

	singular	plural
nominative	veer	veered
accusative	veere	veered
genitive	veere	veerte
partitive	veert	veeri
illative	veerde veeresse	veertesse veerisse
inessive	veeres	veertes veeris
elative	veerest	veertest veerist
allative	veerele	veertele veerile
adessive	veerel	veertel veeril
ablative	veerelt	veertelt veerilt
translative	veereks	veerteks veeriks
terminative	veereni	veerteni
essive	veerena	veertena
abessive	veereta	veerteta
comitative	veerega	veertega

Further reading

• veer in Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat
• veer in Raadik, M., editor (2018), Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018, Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, →ISBN
• veer in Sõnaveeb

German Low German

Low German cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : veer     Ordinal : veert

Etymology

From Middle Low German vêr, from Old Saxon fiuwar. Ultimately cognate to German vier, English four.

Numeral

veer

1. (in some dialects, including Low Prussian and Münsterland) four (4)

Coordinate terms

Cardinal numbers from 0 to 99

	—0	—1	—2	—3	—4	—5	—6	—7	—8	—9
0—	null	een	twee/twei	dree/drei	veer	fiev/fief	söß/söss	sæben/söven	acht	negen
1—	teihn/tein/tien	ölven/elf	twölf	dörteihn	veerteihn	föffteihn	sössteihn	söventeihn	achtteihn	negenteihn
2—	twintig	eenuntwintig	tweeuntwintig	dreeuntwintig	veeruntwintig	fiefuntwintig	sössuntwintig	sövenuntwintig	achtuntwintig	negenuntwintig
3—	dörtig	eenundörtig	tweeundörtig	dreeundörtig	veerundörtig	fiefundörtig	sössundörtig	sövenundörtig	achtundörtig	negenundörtig
4—	veertig	eenunveertig	tweeunveertig	dreeunveertig	veerunveertig	fiefunveertig	sössunveertig	sövenunveertig	achtunveertig	negenunveertig
5—	föfftig	eenunföfftig	tweeunföfftig	dreeunföfftig	veerunföfftig	fiefunföfftig	sössunföfftig	sövenunföfftig	achtunföfftig	negenunföfftig
6—	sösstig	eenunsösstig	tweeunsösstig	dreeunsösstig	veerunsösstig	fiefunsösstig	sössunsösstig	sövenunsösstig	achtunsösstig	negenunsösstig
7—	söventig	eenunsöventig	tweeunsöventig	dreeunsöventig	veerunsöventig	fiefunsöventig	sössunsöventig	sövenunsöventig	achtunsöventig	negenunsöventig
8—	achtig tachentig	eenunachtig eenuntachentig	tweeunachtig tweeuntachentig	dreeunachtig dreeuntachentig	veerunachtig veeruntachentig	fiefunachtig fiefuntachentig	sössunachtig sössuntachentig	sövenunachtig sövenuntachentig	achtunachtig achtuntachentig	negenunachtig negenuntachentig
9—	negentig	eenunnegentig	tweeunnegentig	dreeunnegentig	veerunnegentig	fiefunnegentig	sössunnegentig	sövenunnegentig	achtunnegentig	negenunnegentig

Cardinal numbers from 100 onward

• 100: hunnert
• 10³: dusend, duusend, eendusend
• 10⁴: teihndusend
• 10⁶: Milljon
• 10¹²: Billjon
• 10¹⁵: Billjard

…

See also

• Plautdietsch: veea

Jutish

Etymology

From Old Norse vita.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈveːɹ]

Verb

veer

1. (Fjolde) to know

References

• “veer” in Anders Bjerrum and Marie Bjerrum (1974), Ordbog over Fjoldemålet, Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag.

Limburgish

Etymology

From earlier vēr, from Middle Dutch vier, from Old Dutch *fier, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /veːʁ/
• Rhymes: -eːʁ

Numeral

veer (Eupen)

1. (cardinal number) four

Middle English

Noun

veer

1. Alternative form of firre

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

veer m

1. indefinite plural of ve

Old French

Verb

veer

1. Alternative form of veoir

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

Inherited from Latin vidēre, from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to know; see”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /βeˈeɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ

Verb

veer

1. to see
   • 13th century, Vindel manuscript, Martín Codax, Ai ondas que eu vim veer (facsimile)

     Ay ondas que eu uin ueer / ſe me ſaberedes dizer / por que tarda meu amigo sẽ mj

     Oh waves that I came to see / say unto me / Why my lover lingers thus away from me?

Conjugation

    Conjugation of veer (irregular)

Note: Note: The verbs marked with an asterisk (*) were conjugated accordingly to the Old Galician-Portuguese conjugation system, given that there are no records of their usages.
infinitive			veer ver
gerund			veendo
past participle				singular		plural
		masculine		veudo viudo visto		veudos* viudos* vistos
		feminine		veuda viuda vista		veudas* viudas* vistas
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		eu	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nós nós outros nós outras	vós vós outros vós outras	eles elas
	present	vejo	ves	vee	veemos	veedes vedes	veen
	imperfect	*veia viia via	veias viias vias	*veia *viia via	veiamos viiamos viamos	*veiades *viiades *viades	veian viian vian
	preterite	*veí vii vi	viste	viu vio	vimos	vistes	viron
	pluperfect	vira	viras	vira	viramos	virades	viran
	future	veerei verei	veerás verás	veerá verá	veeremos veremos	veeredes veredes	veerán verán
	conditional	veeria veria	veerias verias	veeria veria	veeriamos veriamos	veeriades veriades	veerian verian
subjunctive		eu	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nós nós outros nós outras	vós vós outros vós outras	eles elas
	present	veja	vejas	veja	vejamos	vejades	vejan
	preterite	visse	visses	visse	víssemos	víssedes	vissen
	future	vir	vires	vir	virmos	virdes	viren
imperative		—	tu	vossa mercee	nós nós outros nós outras	vós vós outros vós outras	—
	affirmative	—	*vêe *vê	*veja	vejamos	veede vede *vei	—
	negative	—	*vejas	*veja	*vejamos	*vejades	—
personal infinitive		eu	tu	el~ele ela vossa mercee	nós nós outros nós outras	vós vós outros vós outras	eles elas
		veer ver	veeres veres	veer ver	veermos vermos	veerdes verdes	veeren veren

Descendants

• Galician: ver
• Portuguese: ver

Spanish

Verb

veer (first-person singular present veo, first-person singular preterite veí, past participle veído)

1. Obsolete spelling of ver

Further reading

• “veer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014